Leads

We have tested and tapped into a proven lead source where these leads are proving consistent returns. We are now making them available exclusively to our members. We want to do a “soft” launch to see if the system can…

You know what questions to ask. You know how to fill out an application, but you might be seeing your closing ratio slip and your cost per acquired lead is going up. Why? This is something we identified in our…

Over the last week, I requested questions from members on topics in their business where the answers could help others. In this video, my friend Eugene and I did our best to answer them based on our experience thus far….

This was a LIVE Facebook broadcast from //facebook.com/MedicareAgentTrai… Be sure to “LIKE” the facebook page to get notices of future broadcasts. The topic covered here was “When to grow” and first steps into expansion from a one-person shop into…

A recent opinion letter from the Federal Trade Commission all but puts the complete brakes on anyone relying on Avatar leads. For those not familiar, an Avatar lead is generated by someone, typically in another country, using buttons on a…

In this webinar, we show how deploying an already-trained telemarketer might give your business a head start. We also go through everything you need to do to find and hire your own telemarketers, if you choose to do so. <[email protected]@>…

Prospecting? How Many Times Should You Call? POSTED ON FEBRUARY 22, 2016 BY MICHAEL PEDONE “What is the number of times a Sales Development Rep (SDR) should attempt to contact a prospect before moving on?” Before you put a system…

Can you really use direct mail for effective Med Supp sales by telephone? Yes you can, but it will cost you a fortune to obtain each new client. Advice from Chris: DO NOT USE DIRECT MAIL FOR MEDICARE SALES. Here is…

“I really can't recall reading anyone who just started from day 1 selling 3-5 med sups a week yr round? It just seems med sups are part time selling for 3-5 yrs till it builds up and you're making $100k plus a yr”

When I started selling Medicare Supplements by phone, I was using direct mail from Mainstreet Powermail and relied heavily on their experience with historical response rates to guide where I would do the mailings. As I could mail anywhere in any state, I asked their rep for guidance as to the absolute best state response rates in the country and then in that best state. Believe it or not, I was getting 4 to 6% response rates in Michigan at the time.

I was writing 3 to 5 deals a week and only working Med Supps two days a week in the early days. I then continued to mail, fill the pipeline, and moved eventually to doing it five days a week, away from a mix of doing local final expense sales in person. Making that transition was a balancing act, because the final expense sales paid more, up front, but I knew from the residual income aspect that it was a better, long term play to get into the Medicare Supplements.

When the direct mail returns started to go down and we had two postage rate increases close to each other, I turned to telemarketing. I paid a local guy to do my calling and he would gauge interest and then build me up to the potential client on the phone, setting an appointment for me to go over their options based on how much they would save by switching to a new carrier on the same plan. This, too, worked very consistently.

Fast forward six years later and the phone rings all week from referrals now.I write three to eight deals every week from referrals, spouses of clients, or posts I've put on the internet that are discovered by those shopping.

It is nice not having to do outbound marketing. This is something that I was told, early on, would happen but was hard to believe when it felt like it was so hard to get any traction in the business.

As to:

Originally Posted by sirherbie

“It just seems med sups are part time selling for 3-5 yrs till it builds up and you're making $100k plus a yr”

You can do it part-time and get there slower, for sure. I know many agents who started selling Medicare Supplements at night after their full-time jobs. I started part-time doing it just two days per week but set those entire days aside to concentrate on this aspect of my business before going full-time.

If I had it to do over again, I would have done it the exact same way. I probably worked 30 hours in those two days, early on. I know for a fact that it greatly depends on how hungry you are. I see, day in and day out, agents who rely on their spouse's income to support their family and they treat their business as a part-time hobby. That won't cut it. Those in that scenario do not have the fortitude to weather the rejection and stay long enough to enjoy the income.

On the other hand, I see agents who commit to cutting their safety net and it is sink or swim. They swim. Their commitment level is do or die and that makes all of the difference in their mindset to working the hours necessary and doing whatever it takes to make enough presentations.

Whichever direction you choose to go in, I strongly suggest investing in help with the prospecting, then the prospecting and pre-screening as soon as you can afford to do so. There is no greater time waster than spending YOUR valuable, limited and precious time with those that are uninterested. Even worse is spending 95% of your time with those that are uninterested and even if they were interested, unqualified to take action (due to health, qualification to buy a Med Supp, etc.).

I continue to find it extremely liberating to have someone on your schedule that understands what you do, knows the price of the best plan for them, knows that they will likely qualify based on the health questions OF that plan and knows exactly what their savings will be once they consummate that transaction with you.

Are you generating your own leads using telemarketing? This is very valuable advice and a roll play of a very typical sales call using the predictive dialer. Cold calling for Medicare Supplement sales is simple, but it's not easy. This…

Personal observation in my neighborhood about positioning and the insurance professional.

If you are considering local marketing, please use the methods described in this post.
The results are much better and the positioning makes you out as the expert you are.

Leaving flyers, door to door, for insurance leads is not only a tough way to go, but doing this yourself means you have nothing better to do and leaves you in a very bad position in the mind of your prospect. There is a way to do it where you can introduce yourself, show what you have to offer (much better than a corporate brochure) and have others deliver these packets much more efficiently FOR YOU.

It is ALWAYS better when you develop your own leads for insurance sales. Rather than relying on lead vendors, who very often rip off the unsuspecting agent, when you learn to create your own leads you can control the quality, the quantity of leads, and your costs along the way.

Topics Covered: The lure/promise of “Free Leads” -what you give up. Telemarketing Scripts (see links below) Residual income – don't give it up! Telemarketing strategy with a predictive dialer (Update: We are not using AgentsDialer any longer. See here.) //archive.org/download/28503236135131517/28503236-135131517.mp3…